Mali vs Eswatini

Mali and Eswatini both will play their final match of Africa Cup of Nations qualifications round on Tuesday in Stade du 26 Mars.

The home side requires only a point from this one to guarantee qualification for the group I winners while the away side requires victory to stand any slight chance of avoiding finishing bottom of the group.

Mali have been regular participants of the Africa Cup of Nations tournaments in the last nine consecutive editions, for them kicked off their qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw against Mozambique.

Tom Saintfiet’s men were able to secure two more 1-0 wins against Eswatini and Guinea-Bissau in their next two matches to assert some measure of dominance in the group midway through the qualifiers before being held to a barren draw against Guinea-Bissau in the second match of the two friendly matches last month.

In need of a win from their fifth and final qualifying fixture, Mali scraped through to the 1-0 victory against Mozambique in the previous Friday’s match at Estadio do Zimpeto saw Kamory Doumbia give the pointer moment for Mali.

And so Mali is now heads the pack in Group I with 11-points in her tally, three points above Mozambique and nine points ahead of Eswatini as they prepare for their last game in Mali.

Since their African Cup of Nations quarterfinal loss to the Ivory Coast in early February, Tuesday’s hosts have been undefeated in eight of nine encounters across all competitions and will want to end the year on a high note.

Eswatini, now yet to record a victory for the round of qualifying matches came up against the Wild Dogs of Guinea-Bissau on Friday at the venue of the match, the Mbombela Stadium which ended in the production of a 1-1 draw.

Lindo Mkhonta's rebound from his missed penalty gave Zdravko Logarusic's team the lead nine minutes from time, and it appeared as though they would win all three points until Carlos Mane tied the score in the 87th minute.

Eswatini is one of eight sides that have yet to win an AFCON qualification match going into the final round of games, despite the fact that their loss last time out had no major repercussions.

Sihlangu Semnikati will have to wait at least another two years for their first-ever AFCON debut after being disqualified from consideration for a spot in Morocco next year.

However, Tuesday's visitors would certainly benefit from getting back to winning ways in their year-ending match before they return to World Cup qualifying duties in March against Mauritius and Cameroon.

Kamory Doumbia, 21, scored his eighth goal in 15 international games against Mozambique, demonstrating his continued ability to deliver for Mali.

In the aforementioned match, Djigui Diarra earned his 65th cap and is steadily rising through the hosts' all-time appearance rankings.